


You weren't there

by LoveChilinda



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers team - Freeform, Deaths, Feelings, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sad, Team Dynamics, Team Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 12:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18591589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveChilinda/pseuds/LoveChilinda
Summary: "He took him from me" cried."Who?"Instead Tony said with a voice full of hurt, "you weren't there.".Or what is worse: Tony loosing Pete in his own arms- or saying it to the cap?





	You weren't there

** Ex-Avengers Compound **

00089 hours after the _snap_

* * *

 

 

It was after everything.

After the battles. After the ashes taking power over the bodies. After walking over dirt not knowing who was that before, whose life was vanished in a nanosecond.

(After being reunited again.

After hearing his name being called by Bucky and the feel of his body reaching finally home when they hugged. That feel of belonging, of a home that never goes away.

(It was before losing him again. Too.)

"You need to stop doing that." Came the voice from behind him, only two minutes later than the footsteps he had heard reaching the room.

"Hm?" 

Natasha's profile came before her voice now and Steve turned around to see her. Trying to ignore the fact that her eyes looked like steel, her hair was shinning, her clothes were even ironed and nothing looked less than perfect in her look but even like that he could remember the silently sobbings that came last night from there room, those followed from rushed breathing and names Steve wasn't able to understand. Mostly in Russian, and German. Some in English. 

A few familiar. 

(His ears where more a curse than a give, Steve thought many times).

"Stop what?" Asked in change.

Natasha frowned.

"Loking like you can ignore him in this situation." Said harsh as always, knowing where to hit and where to _stab_. "He lost many too, Steve. And right now we can't be apart. Even if it hurts. Even if it _make us_ remember them."

( ~~Would one day be able to give them names instead of pronouns?~~ ) 

For a few seconds they only watched each other's eyes.

The blue one were the first to look away.

"Okay," Steve said separating from the window he had been looking for more over an hour. "Okay." Repeated, more to himself than to Natasha.

And anyway she nodded, like he was in charge.

The idea made him laugh inside. 

(Charge of what? Of an empty building and a broken army?)

* * *

 

"Iron man," was the first thing Steve thought two years ago what he would said to the engineer if he saw him again.

"Stark" was the second option. Also brutal. With the finale of hurting him and making him realize that even if one day they had been allies, that past had died in Siberia with a broken shield and a terrible truth. He had had all the intentions of the world to say the name in heavy voice, like a commander seeing a rebel cadet. He had wanted no to make him suffer but to make him **_grow_**. 

What Steve never thought was to say in a hutful voice. Small and afraid of the broken man that was sitting in the edge of the before white couche looking like the world had ended for him an there was nothing else reason to breath. With the tearing shirt, cuts in all the face and body that showed that not only formed part of the fight, but tried his best, and a cut so deep and extend where his diafragma should be that made him look like a man returning from a lost war. With scars of reunions with dead and eyes of secrets revealed.

Looking not in the verge of tears, but from the edge of a bridge.

" _Tony..._ " was what Steve said instate of every insult that one day crossed his mind.

Seeing how War machine had one arm covering tony's body like if he was afraid of him breaking like glass if he let him go. Bruce was far away from them but at the same time close in range in the room waiting to provide his help. Maybe de doctor felt guilty for not being with Stark when he saw him go. Maybe he feels guilty that his friend was dead on his foot when Hulk didn't make appearance.

Or maybe he was for had taken the Man of Iron dead. Just like half of the universe. 

 _This isn't iron man._ A voice like himself but younger, and less blooder said.

"Pepper doesn't answer my calls."

This was not the man that tried to kill Bucky.

"Friday is dead too. And Happy. And even the fat of Ned. You know, like a collapse. A big, magestic and fucking collapse" he smiled, in that wicked way that only twisted the sides of his mouth and did nothing for the void in his eyes. War machine holded him _more."_ No internet, no signals, even I tried calling one of my suits and is like all of the responsables of the surfing in the world are dead and the other half is mourning them instead of **helping**."

This was a broken man.

Who saw so much dead that couldn't understand the living. And had more regrets than years of living.

"Tony,"

"He was taken from me," said at the instant looking at steve with big, afraid eyes. The hands that had been playing with his mouth all the time moved and Steve now could see the cuts and dried blood between the finger. He concentrated again in the eyes of Iron man and heard the first signal of emotion in his voice since they found him outside the Facility. In an broken space ship with a robot girl that was still asleep, " **He** took him from me, he took him while he was with me and it happened in my arms and- and _I f **ucking** couldn't **do** anything"_ cried at the end. 

And steve's blood ran cold and saw Tony get on his foot. Mouth curved down, hands closing and opening, lips curved and trembling and talking like shattered ice who tried to keep it together but only broke a little more every second that passed. 

(Did he felt like that with Bucky the first time?)

"Tony," Rhodes tried to stop him but Stark was on his foot in one second, practically jumping to where Steve stood and the captain felt the presence of Natasha behind him in no time.

"Who? " Steve asked in the end. When the silence was to much to bear. When all different question did not matter in comparative. 

Instead Tony said like it hurted him, "you weren't _there_."

And Steve had to wonder for one second if Tony had tried to called him like himself had thought of doing it many times. If he had tried to reach for him in the middle of the battle only to find the spot alone. If he was mad at him too. Mad at himself. For had giving more power to the pride and maybe (just maybe) made everything worse in the end.

(Had if not the war happened everything could have been fine?

But then whose fault was that? His? Tony? The team? The governments or even the whole world?)

"We where in Wakanda protecting the last gem" cut him Natasha. 

And the laugh from Tony was like a scream in the silence of the room.

"There were two on Earth not one." Gave up the information like a punch to the three in the room. In his peripheral vision Steve saw Bruce tensing a little.

"But… " Natasha looked lost. 

Tony saw beetwen the both of them before closing his eyes. And opening loking older than before.

"Time, space, reality, soul, power." Counted, and even with a theorical mind like Stark, Steve knew that the information had been repeated, burned in the mind of the man. It was how it sounded. Like once was places and hours for himself. "The time stone had it Dr. strage, his protector here on Earth. One of the minions took him to Thanos and in the way to there I- we saved him" rasped and his figure trembled. "We did it and there where more there and we fought and we lost and then he died because _we weren't_ _enough_."

"Who?" Steve asked again. 

And **finally.**  Finally Iron Man, the engineer, the genius, the creator, the magnate, the man behind the steel heart and the best tech **_broke down_**.

Rhodes was in a breath's time taking Tony with him and holding him before he hit the floor.

"My kid" the husky breaths filled room and steve felt like having a builng fall on him. " **Peter.** _Ohmygood Pete_ \- he on my arms… he took him from me. He took him from me. He took my son Rogers. He took Peter from me" screamed, and his eyes burned Steve.

* * *

"If we cannot save them" the words came hurting, true but full of pain of a reality where everyone was dead. Where everyone was lost.

Steve looked at Tony who was only beside him and tried not to stare to much at the cuts on his face. 

"We are going to avenge them." Finalized.

Stark exhaled. 

"Yeah… I like that. With only a little of rock and roll in the process. And a lot of bad jokes."


End file.
